Pray for the Godless
Are you looking forward to getting some money back from the taxman this year? Here in South Africa it grates us, to some extent, to pay tax. Our roads are full of potholes, our city centres are full of rubbish, and our politicians seem to misuse public funds for personal gain. All this makes many citizens slightly bitter when submitting tax returns.
In fact if you want to get people at a party to leave you alone in South Africa, tell them you work for the South African Revenue Service! I think it was much the same in Jesus' day. After all, in the Roman empire, tax was complicated and over-the-top. The people had to pay income tax, property tax, land tax, import and export tax. Jews, of course, had to pay a religious 'tax' too, and a tithe.
Expecting Jesus’ Judgement on Others
And so when Jesus came into contact with one of the chief tax collectors in Jericho, who was getting rich by collecting tax for Rome, I can imagine the disciples rubbing their hands in glee! They probably thought Jesus was going to tear this corrupt little man to shreds.
But remember, Jesus changes lives! This is what we’ve been seeing in these past few weeks of daily devotions. And He ends up changing the life of Zacchaeus the taxman, you can read it in Luke 19:1-10.
Here's the question: are you eager to see godless people find God and be transformed by Him? Or are you more eager to see godless people get punished?
Grace for the Vilest Offender
A line that I often quote in these devotions is from Fanny Crosby's hymn "To God Be the Glory", where she writes: "the vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives". Amen to that. Even the worst, godless sinner on the planet will receive pardon and grace if he truly believes and puts his trust in Jesus.
There are many "Zacchaeus’s" around us today. People who do things that are wrong and selfish. People who inflict hurt on others in various ways. I'm sure you can think of people who are involved in hurtful and godless things.
Perhaps today we can pray for those people. Pray – not that God would rip them to shreds – but that they would come to know the God who loves them, and be changed by Him as they submit to Him.
Friends, if Jesus can change a Zacchaeus, then He can change any person by His wonderful grace. Don’t wish God’s judgement on people. Pray instead for God’s truth to infiltrate their hearts, that they may find mercy and grace – and a changed life – like Zacchaeus did.
